Man, this is great stuff! Really appreciate the massive amount of work that must've gone into this. It's such a nice nostalgic throwback to, seemingly, simpler times, which were nevertheless very much pioneering. I never visited an Arcade in the 70s but it must've been a great experience. Those lovely 70s ladies do a great job of promotion too!
Extremely well done video series! Love it! I started watching the 4 hour epic, but thought it best to start on this one. Well it is called Part 1 after all.
Loved it. Looking forward to the next episode, but I really appreciated how you started in the 70s and delved into so many games that frankly, nobody really talks about. I was born in 81 so I have no memories of most of these, but I love the history behind the games that I did grow up with and where they came from. Kinda brings to mind the Atari Flashback collection on Switch. It got a lot of flack for containing “junk” games no one cares about, but holy crap I love that about it. It has obscure arcade and 2600 titles that nobody is talking about and it’s so cool to see where gaming really started.
Yeah thanks for watching and yeah i wanted to give all the games that never get talked about a bit of respect cause all gaming came from these 70's games. Glad you liked it , part 2 the 80's in less than 2 weeks👍
Cecil B. DeMille would’ve been jealous of your epic tome if he’d ever gotten his hands on a joystick! Thank you for applying so much effort and craftsmanship. It teleports me to the years leading to my ‘81 graduation and through college for the course of an entire evening.
Very informative and entertaining. The tight production value is ace! Really great work here that is tops of the retro scene. Nice to have a great summary of this era of arcades all in one easily consumable format.
Cheers thx , the 70's is really sparse on arcade info so it took ages to gather info. It will be followed by 80's and 90's episodes which will be way longer of coarse 👍
Born in 73 and my mom worked near the beach in Virginia so we had arcades near the boardwalk. I've been looking for something like this to take me back! I have a faint memory of those games and how diverse the technology was. Thanks!
No wonder this consumed so much of your time, it's an absolutely brilliant start to a series I'm hugely anticipating. Great research and well edited. Cannot wait for Part 2, the 80's arcades are the Games I'm really in love with. Well done!
Excellent video Bastich! Thank you for the time and effort it took for you to do this. Some good memories although I think the next decade will be right up my street. 😊
Amazing documentary, super informative and entertaining. After the superb Ultima retrospective and your many other videos I really hope your subscription numbers explode - you deserve it!
Just woke up to see part one of the long anticipated "arcade series" and it didn't disappoint. Part 2 is gonna be more my time with it being the 80's. One of the things I found most interesting was the cabinet for "Computer space". Just so sleek and modern, yet retro. Cant believe the wardrobe with a T.V. design won out and became what we all remember as an "arcade shape". Production value here is top notch, never a dull moment, great work.
Thanks for watching , you gonna love the 80's one .. i still haven't watched it yet 😂 . That Computer Space arcade cab is super cool so mod 60's in design ! Love the look
Thanks for all the details of the history of Arcades and the machines that filled them. I was a young teen in the early 70s and remember most of this very well. I was so impressed I opened a software company in the early 80s and was a dealer for Atari and a host of other software and hardware companies. These were truly the best years of my life; all pre-Internet. I still have a fairly large inventory left over from those years, which I love to reminisce by not only playing the games, but just looking at. In fact, now, I have a full blown Arcade set up in our home and always get a "Wow!" when someone new stops over. The coin-operated originals are complimented by a pool table in the center. Upstairs, I have a loft which is quite large, with arcade consoles going back to pre Magnavox Odyssey to current day. Also a collection of handhelds such as the lesser known Atari Touch Me, and of course both versions of the Atari Lynx. I'm not ready to throw the towel in yet, but I must say it has been a wild ride and watching your video here stirs up all kinds of memories of why I love this stuff so much! Thank you for all the work that went into the whole production!
Thank you so much for this documentary video and all the personal histories you and your guests had with the arcades. I go to an arcade this Saturday so this video came just in time. 😀
Excellent video; I admit I held off watching this for a while as I somehow thought something this long is likely a compilation of videos I’ve seen before. But I’m glad I saw it. Great historical detail here, and great job of connecting the electro-mechanical arcade history and pinball machines with video games. Unique perspective and very well done!
I remember Speed Race. It was at the front of the local supermarket and my parents would leave me, at the time five years old, alone watching it as they did the grocery shopping.
I only just found this thanks to a tweet from Neil at RMC the cave. You've put a tonne of work into it and it shows. I've got hours of arcade goodness to watch over Christmas thanks to parts two and three next. Really many, many thanks this content is just excellent ;)
If I wasn't so lazy I'd stand up and applaud you, man. I'm a total nerd for old stuff. Seen probably every history video on RU-vid and none of them electro-mechanical games when those EM games are so important to the story. There are plenty of 80's games that are basically digitized EM games. So important. I'd applaud you just for acknowledging their existence but you go all the way with it. Bravo. You even taught me something new, that Bushnell had ties to the EM industry. Every other history video of the guy starts with Computer Space, or if they're ambitious, they'll start with Bushnell seeing Space War and Baer's Pong. You left no stone unturned, man. All that's left to cover now is the rise of the RPG, with old tabletop wargames, and the graphical and text simulations made on mainframes for education and military use in the 1960's. Another fun documentary would be about how the fantasy setting as we know it evolved, because for sure it goes back way before Lord of The Rings.
Cheers dude thanks for noticing that , i agree everyone just takes the easy route and ignores EM games which is ridiculous cause its really the start of everything and they always get sidetracked on showing the same 3 or 4 games from the 70's and nothing else which is just weird .. im sure you know which ones they only mention 😂 , i just make videos with myself in mind and what i wanna see personally and make it simple for non gamers to enjoy as well . The 80's one is out in 2 weeks so im sure you'll enjoy that too . Thanks for watching 👍
Great video and happy new year mate, was so happy to see you get a shout out in digital foundry, hopefully it gives your channel a great boost this year, looking forward to the videos this year!
Thanks , it was a fun video to make . Yeah Audi at Digital did that cause he's a fan of the channel and a really good guy so that was super cool , i got 60 extra subs in one day!!
I also got a head start in the gaming craze. My dad was a student at Worcester Polytech in the early mid 70s. I played Lunar Lander, with a light pen. It was massive fun for me, and people in the computer lab enjoyed seeing how child took to the interface. Shortly after, the PONG craze. I was five. I enjoyed going to friends houses and see how their pong console was different. I would forget all about PONG consoles when we got the VCS. Around that time my dad was working at the Pentagon. He was allowed to bring my mother and I to the office, and I learned about Adventure. As much as I love the game, I was too young to really go too far with it. But Warren Robinett had my back, and release the graphical version of Adventure. It remains my favorite game today, because it was the accelerant on my already burning passion that was video games. I had control over this game. Along Came Aasteroids, Space Invaders, and Pac-Man. Followed by a host of other wonderful games. And that brings me to my adolescence. I will hit arcade a few times a week for a couple hours. Having gone to a boarding school, it was wonderful to get off campus and to do something fun. I'm now in my early fifties, and I still play video games everyday. I played beat saber for about an hour a day to try to improve my health. I play Rrocket League, and I do well. I have like 30 consoles now that I started collecting about a decade. That midlife crisis is over so I'm collecting at a slower rate. As long as my arthritic claws allow me to play, I will until I die. It's never too late to love playing video games..Tthere isn't an age where you're too old to play. On your cell phone, a computer, or a Home console. As long as you have fun, there's really is no wrong answer. I would also encourage the younger gamers to take a look back at the history. I'm sure you'll discover something fun. I look forward to the rest of the series!
Amazing detail! I also saw one of those clay pidgeon wall games back in the 70s. I was probably 6-7 and you're right, the guns were very heavy! I didn't hit shit lol. Saw my first game in the airport when I was 4, Pong, and have been hooked ever since. This reminded me of games I haven't played since then, but I was surprised at how many I recognized. I'm now heading over to watch Part 2, which is my golden era. 4+ hours? Can't imagine how much work that was, but I'll tell ya, it's going to be an absolute breeze to watch. Cheers!
Being born in 1973, I only have vague memories of the arcades in the 70's. But the sound of Space Invaders will probably stay with me forever. And it wasn't until Nintendo released Game & Watch that gaming sunk its teeth and claws into me. But man, the arcades were awesome!
My first arcade experience was when my parents took me to Florida to go to Disney World in January of 1976, and the hotel we were staying at had an arcade with Pong, Tank, and some electromechanical games. The Pong and the Tank were both cocktail versions, IIRC, or at least the Tank definitely was.
As an old man who lived through this era I'm not being hyperbolic when I say you young guns missed out. The late 70s, 80s and early 90s was amazing. The golden era.
A truly remarkable first part, fully researched and all the information you'd want and more from this era. I actually remember the mechanical games and playing them, that helicopter game you shown and an underwater one weaving in and out of mines at the bottom of the sea come to mind. Very emotional looking back and feeling very special to have lived during this time. This was so good i'd put it in the same bracket as the Bedroom to billions documentaries, thing is you went further. Congratulations Brendan, i can't praise this highly enough. If these don't take you to over 10,000 subs i'll be gobsmacked.
Awesome dude thx , there was a lot of research for this one 😂👍 i had some great flashbacks myself remembering games I'd played as a kid that I'd completely forgotten existed . If you like this then part 2's 4 and a half hour run time is gonna melt your brain 😂👍 . Cheers as always and glad you liked it
I didn’t realize that Galaxian was so groundbreaking, being released before 1980 and having full-color sprites & independently moving background star-field..
Excellent video, there were still plenty of '70s machines around when I first started going in arcades in the early '80s. I LOVED arcades, and going to the seaside. Great memories.
Very well presented. I was born in 67 so remember having my mind blown at arcades at a young age playing so many. While these games look primitive by todays standard, it makes you appreciate modern games more and just how far we've come. I have an Xbox Series X, Virtual pinball table and a Quest 2, I still very much enjoy gaming. Looking forward to part 2
Awesome! Really enjoyed the first part. It is apparent that you did a ton of research. Nice job. Such a great time in the late 70s/early 80s. It was the same in my part of the USA in the bay area there were arcade machines everywhere. Donut shops, 7-eleven/convenience stores, grocery stores, pizza places and the few actual Arcades we had in my small town. Great memories.
Hey! Wow! I was also born in South Africa. One of my early arcade memories were of the arcade in Margate (on the coast in Natal). We were on holiday there in '83 I believe. I remember a few games that I've been trying to track down. One of which was an old video game that I think is called Cross Fire by Taito. I haven't been able to track down video of it working, unfortunately
I remember going to Blackpool and Morecambe in the UK back in around 1976/77 and it was all electro mechanical games, shooting games and the like. Then around 1979 we started to see Space Invaders, Asteroids and Galaxians in the cafes in the town. I still recall the day they brought in Missile Command and Battlezone and I was a bit freaked out by the end sequence on Missile Command. For sure 78-84 was the golden period...
Yeah thats exactly What it was like ! I wish i could try out some of those EM games again . Thanks for watching and please check out part 2 the 80's if you get a chance 😀
@@BastichB64K there were also these very strange "film" games in a marquee... I remember one where it was WW1 biplanes and you had to shoot them down with a machine gun... when you did it cut to explosions... some kind of optical/light gun contraption...pre dating laser disc games... probably dating from late 60s/early 70s I would imagine.... there were car ones too... really odd games when you think about it...
Good stuff here! As a 70’s kid I was old enough to remember what arcades were like before Space Invaders. Mostly pinball games but also a lot of shooting gallery type games; some mechanical, some using projectors not to mention the driving games. I remember this one where you used a makeshift harpoon gun to hunt manta rays. I still remember the funny sounds it made. However those type of games all but disappeared in the late 70’s…
The first video game is a bit contentious as to how to pin it down, but I beleive it was 1951 with Christopher Strachey's Draughts on a Ferranti main-frame. It used a VDU CRT monitor and had sound and music. You may find it interesting that there was a digital computerised game of golf from the 1930s too! It used light-bulbs though.
Love this series 👍👍. Here's an idea for a video. The evolution of game covers and advertising, how sex helped sell video games and how sometimes the cover art had nothing to do with the actual games.
Love this video… BTW, anyone panning a trip to California wanting to see ( and play!) very early mechanical arcade games on up to the 70’s and up to the 80’s including pinball should visit the Musée Mécanique in San Francisco.
Great trip to the past..... Atari 2600 was the bomb back then...our neighbours always were 'early adopters' of all new tech stuff, such as a VCR and yes...the Atari 2600....luckily my parents realised we needed one of those in our household as well....sweet times 😉
21:34 I remember playing Gun Fight at the Skating Rink in My Native DMV Metropolitan Area in the late 70's My Dad would take me to many times. Next to arcades, video games were also found in bowling alleys, 7-11's, grocery stores & some hotels even had a small arcade give or take location. Even People's Drug had 1 in their stores of the times especially the 1 2 blocks from My Grandparents House in DC. I remember Pac-Man, Excite Bike, Track & Field, & even The Legend of Kage in the mid-80's. It's since turned into CVS Pharmacy...No gaming😭. I was taken to Chuck E Cheese in the 80's in My Native DMV Metropolitan Area for the 1st time & that's where I 1st saw Exidy's Mousetrap, a Cat & Mouse version of Pac-Man...WORTH IT. Thanks for the nostalgia & GAME ON🎮👊🏿😉.
@@BastichB64K You had to be there. Even 🍕 Joints such as 🍕 Hut included tabletop arcade cabinets of classics as Pac-Man, Space Invaders all the way to Akkanoid you could actually eat off the waterproof shatterproof table screen.
Dude.. that was bloody great.. Really enjoyed the depth and the style... Certainly played a few of those back in the day.. specially space invaders and rally x .. classics.. Love the year intro's - Kentucky Fried Movie. lol... Catholic Highschool Girls in Trouble :) Looking forward to the next instalment, I am sure it was a large body of work Rock On
Nice content! Going back to the very start, I note you didn't mention that 'tennis' thing on a scope of some sort, which was loosely the first video game, in a sense? Really interesting to see the history of arcades, great footage and photos, and even an explanation of how "arcade" itself came about as a term. Look forward to viewing the 80s one next....
Cheers thank you , I was making sure I highlighted Space war cause it directly influenced Bushnell & Dabneys Computer Space the 1st official arcade game and thats what the video is all about , not the history of video games in general. I hope you enjoy the 80s and thanks for comment😀👍
I can remember in the very early 80's, Galaxian and Asteroids in my local grocery store. Then, arcade machines were literally, everywhere. There was a Frogger in the laundromat
2nd watch: 25:13 this is so funny 😆 I was having an argument with someone who said I can’t tell him what’s violent, no matter what decade it is, it’s his opinion. I tried to explain that he is technically right but opinions have changed drastically over time and this has broadened my awareness of just how much lol
Thanks! Found you via part 2, then backtracked to find part 1. Great, great stuff! Of particular interest is seeing how the arcade era was experienced around the world vs my memories of it here in the US. Love it!
Space Invaders at the chippy at the top of the road. 10p a go. Chips were 18p! Skipping ahead to the eighties, they replaced it with Galaxians then with Kung Fu Master, still 10p but chips were now 35p.
Really well done! This is the kind of project that takes months to put together and it shows. I am curious about your accent, Afrikaans? But you spent significant time somewhere else I think.
Not all companies made illegal copies of Space Invaders. In Japan, Sammy Industries (サミー工業), Logitech (ロジテック), Shin Nihon Kikaku (future-SNK, 新日本企画), Jatre (ジャトレ), IPM (future-IREM, アイピーエム), Shûwa Kikaku (秀和企画), Mikuma Sangyô (ミクマ産業) all had an official license from Taito to manufacture and sell their version of Space Invaders under any name they choose. Others made illegal copies but then paid royalties under a legal settlement with Taito (Data East, Nichibutsu, Universal, etc.)
@@BastichB64K Oh okay mate :) I'm exactly halfway through your second video and like your sense of humour about why you got to see Chiller in SA. LOL take care and thanks for replying
growing up i had an atari 2600. i loved it. and then i wanted a nes. i had a 4.0 average, so my parents were gonna buy me one, but when we went to the store they had ran out of them, so i got an sms. and it was also good. now i dont need any of that hardware, thanks to retroarch.
